Rumour has it that the AIS track will be ready in time for the opening of the track season in October. Which is not far away! We will be continuing our twice-a-week speed-endurance training until then.

Thursday, 30 August 2007

Lake Burley Griffin made a picturesque backdrop for last Sunday's Half Marathon. Here's Griffin himself, powering home. Ken took many photos, I may put some on the ACTVAC website in the near future, with Ken's permission.

The BBQ Stakes handicapYesterday I ran a shocker, struggling in in just under thirty minutes; only to find that Roger and Helen who started over a minute ahead of me had also run just under thirty minutes. The Half Marathon took its toll!

Thea was running really well until recently, lets hope she overcomes the injuries soon and is back to form for the Fun Run season! A bad knee has forced her into the 5k walk at the Canberra Times Fun Run. Waddle, goose, waddle!

Tuesday, 28 August 2007

Monday night saw Caroline, Charmaine, Christopher, Colin, Emma, Ewen, Gary, Geoff B, me, Helen, Joel, Kathy, Katie, Ken, Rachelle, Ruth, Sonia and Yelena run a set of 6 x 440m with a 330m fastish recovery, and some push-ups along the way! Milder weather helped. I need to do more push-ups. Last week it was the legs that were sore on Tuesday, this week it's the arms.

Quick debutHalf Marathon debutantes Amanda, who surprisingly avoided training the next day and sent Colin in her place, and Sonia. They both ran ~1:46.

The "I only drink beer" quote is on the guy's T-shirt. Click to enlarge, if you dare! Those girls are so determined looking. Photo by Ken.

I have a hectic schedule this week, and the world athletics is on, I don't think I can fit in more than 100k. It is nice to run pain free at last... let's hope things continue that way. I think... if I just keep doing tempo runs in place of races for a few months, I should be OK in the longer term. Straits not so dire any more.

song of the week: “Brothers in Arms”, by Mark Knopfler.

There are some songs which are never out of date! Get yourself a large mug of nice warm coffee – sit back – and enjoy. Heaven! (If you have Aussie pseudo-broadband, like me, you might first like to “pause” it and let it load). And a version is on the blog playlist.

I remember taking a very young Nathan and Loani to the outdoor stadium at Bruce, and standing in the pouring rain, close to the stage, we experienced the most awesome sound and light show by Dire Straits. As can be verified by any resident of Kaleen or Giralang at the time. They were loud! They were good! They played all their hits!

Saturday, 25 August 2007

Just a note on the World championships - what an amazing run by Kenyan Luke Kibet to win the marathon so convincingly in an incredibly strong field. And what an outstanding commentary team of David Culbert, Steve Ovett and Nic Bideau; SBS have excelled themselves. And so much more to come, starting with Benita Johnson at 10:55pm tonight. Not to be missed!

At training last night were Bronwyn, Colin, Gary, Geoff B, me, Katie, Ken, Maria, Matthew, Rod and Roger - eleven runners, the fewest we have had, although it was good conditions for running, but the threat of rain may have deterred a few. Come on, it never rains! We ran 12 x 200m in teams of three.

Can we win?This is possibly my only AFL post this year. With two weeks of the minor round left, we - the Mighty Adelaide Crows - can still win the premiership! Teams from second down are all very even, and we may just have hit form at the right end of the season. We simply have to win six more in a row and we are there! It does depend on some other results for us to make the finals, but all we need is two of the following to happen - St Kilda lose at least one of their two remaining games; Sydney both; Collingwood both; Kangaroos both. It is very likely, given the draw, that two of these possibilities do happen; so it is up to us to win. We are good enough.

Then in the finals, as long as we don't meet Geelong in the preliminaries, and we don't travel away to Perth, we can get to the Grand Final, where anything can happen.

On the way, it would be good to get an "away" final against Port Adelaide! Thus cancelling their "advantage".

So for your "game" this week, watch the Crows eliminate Brisbane in Adelaide!

Go The Crows!

Reepicheep"Where sky and water meet,Where the waves grow sweet,Doubt not, Reepicheep,To find all you seek,There is the utter East."

Thursday, 23 August 2007

Yesterday wasn't your usual Wednesday. We will not forget 22-08-07. It all started with an exchange of presents between Jenny and me as we wished each other a happy 37th wedding anniversary. I should have realised it was going to be an "odd" day when it turned out we had bought the same anniversary card for each other!

Before heading off for an afternoon drive with Jenny, I did drop in to the BBQ Stakes to see how my running was going. Charlie had a blinder!

Roger ran 26:08 - 20 seconds slower than last weekI ran 26:47 - 20 seconds faster than last week.Helen ran 26:50 - the same time as last week, andCharlie ran 26:54 - a new pb and first time under 27 minutes.

So that was good and everyone was happy. Especially Charlie.

Later that afternoon, while on our drive, Jenny and I had a series of calls from our son Nathan in Brisbane, that Lisa was in the birthing suite and "it wouldn't be long". Sure enough, at 4:34pm, their third son, and our grandchild number ten, arrived into the world. "His name is Charlie", announced Nathan. "No second name yet".

So welcome into the world, Charlie Moore. A brand new baby born yesterday. 9 lb 1 oz. Just think, he will be my age in 2066! Scary!

So, Charlie McCormack, to avoid confusion we will have to think of another name for you. I wonder what that could be?

Wednesday, 22 August 2007

Saturday 25th August: ACTCCC at the Pinnacle, Springvale Drive, Hawker12 noon - 1km12:15pm - 4km1:00pm - 8km-------------------------------------------Sunday 26th August: ACTVAC Half Marathon, from Stage 88.3 starts as follows:8:00 am, for those who take 2 hours or more.8:30 am for those between 100 and 120 minutes.9:00 am for those who take less than 100 minutes.------------------------------------------9 September: MS Fun Run------------------------------------------16 September: Canberra Times Family Fun Run-------------------------------------------

Roger in last year's ACTCCC 12k championships. Picture taken by R4YL because the CR next to Roger is wearing a R4YL cap.

Roger, Helen & I will race again today in the weekly BBQ Stakes. (Charlie may run too). Roger jumped out last week to be a minute faster than Helen and me, so for the time being he is doing better.

Tuesday, 21 August 2007

...that's how I felt when I saw how far back our runners were in the City to Surf last week. Nevertheless Caroline managed second in her age category, and a team which included Maria and Charlie finished second in a team category. Well done!

Any other category results I am not aware of.

But it's all good. It means there is a large sub-culture of fit and healthy people in Sydney and beyond. Pity the media in general will continue to focus on the unfit and the unhealthy. I shall try not to do that here.

Monday night training on western tracks at Parliament House was a 220m run with a 120m jog, by 12, on 2 minutes. Running were Adam, Alan, Amanda, Caroline, Christopher, Ewen, me, Helen, Joel, Katie, Ken, Maria, Peter, Rachelle, Sonia, and Yelena. It is almost light enough to run on those tracks again.

"...been a goose for years."

Monday, 20 August 2007

My training progresslast week's target: 80kachieved: 80kyear total to date: 2,577k in 33 weeksthis week’s target: 96kweight: 67kg ▲song of the week: “4:12”, by Switchfoot, from “Oh! Gravity”. A bright breezy track about waking up at 4:12 which goes for exactly 4:12 at 190bpm on the album. I have added a live version to the playlist (right hand column of this blog).

Well I managed to keep the discomfort of a sore hammy at bay last week so optimistically I have scheduled a little more distance this week. Will probably race BBQ Stakes on Wednesday again as a test, and have entered Sunday's Vets half marathon and plan to run easy in around 1:55 or 2 hours. (Not "jog": that would be 2 hours 10 or so!) which should help me achieving the 96k target.

Emma in Training

Emma sped around Blewitt's yesterday and left us in her wake... clearly liking early morning runs, hilly courses, and cold wind.

There were many good runs at Blewitts this morning; Gosling Emma, and brand new baby gosling Rachelle, did best. None of us were in the medals, though former geese Graeme Small and Peter Hogan managed to win a couple of them. It was interesting to compare times with last year; Amanda has improved a whole four minutes in the 7k; and Katie a whole minute in the 3.5k. The ASTs will be interesting.

Some discussion ensued about "King" and "Queen of the Mountain" outcomes. But as they are based only on handicap places, I don't think they mean much. We all know that Maria is the best mountain runner, regardless of who gets to be "Queen".

I will be checking out if we can enter CTFR teams online, before rounding up M50 team entries starting tomorrow.

Feeling mathematical?

Saturday, 18 August 2007

What running am I doing this weekend? I will soon be leaving for the Cross Country Club's Dunrossil Drive run today, always a good run because it is short and gets a large field; and the ACTVAC's Blewitt's Pines handicap run early tomorrow, where I will for the first time be comparing a "short course" time with last year's. I wasn't running all that well then, but I bet I cannot match it tomorrow.

...although it is the kind of day I would pefer to stay inside with someone warm and cuddly...

And on TV this weekend: two of the very best movies ever made are on SBS; Amelie tonight, and A Very Long Engagement tomorrow night. These movies are very different from each other, but both feature the acting skills of the engaging French actress Audrey Tautou.

I could very easily just veg out, stay home; watch the footy; watch Dr Who; watch these great movies. But no, the plan says I still need 31 more km this week, so running it is.

Friday, 17 August 2007

Mid August in Canberra: the days are getting longer, but the weather is still cold enough to keep a fire going day and night. However at last night's training it was relatively mild, making it much more pleasant to be out there on the Dickson wind-plain. Training were Barbara, Charlie, Colin, Geoff B, me, Joel, Kathy, Katie, Ken, Maria, Matthew, Peter, Roger, Tony & Yelena. We ran (as a relay in teams of 4 with 2 batons each team) 400 fast with 200 jog. For 25 minutes. Mild enough that I even noticed some sweating!

Next GameA followup to the last one, it's Bonte Room 2. As before, only slightly tricky, lighting the fire needs instructions! There are three rectangular buttons on the top right and a round one on the top left of the fire. With the top left button off press the left-most button on the top right, then the middle one. Then turn on the round button and press the button on the far right, it should stay on. Turn off the round button, press the middle button again then put the round one on again. Finally press the left-most rectangular button. (The "clue" in the game is "12321" but it's pretty obscure.) Otherwise the game is straightforward!

Thursday, 16 August 2007

With no athletics track here in the National Capital all winter (and beyond, probably!), Garry and Kevin had practice runs on the Campbelltown track last Saturday, in preparation for the World Championships in Riccione. Kevin reports: "We were well pleased with the outcome. After a thorough warm up and stretch we ran a few run-thrus and a couple of accelerating bends runs. Then after changing into my 'FAST' spikes we ran a 300m time trial. Very pleased with 46.8 sec , over 4 seconds faster than I had been able to manage on grass. Rested for about 10 minutes and ran a 400m with Garry joining in for the last 200. I went thru the first 200 in 32.6 and although fading finished it off in 67.1 ( fastest recently on grass was 71.?)

"Next Saturday we are going up again for the Skins Winter all comers meet where I intend to run the 1500."

Please get in touch with Kevin if you are interested in travelling to Campbelltown this week. Program details are

Time

Event

10:00

Hurdles

10:00

Hammer

10:00

Pole Vault

10:25

100

10:50

400

11:00

Long Jump

11:10

1500

11:20

Shot Put

11:25

200

11:45

Steeplechase

Date

18 Aug 2007

Location

Campbelltown

Contact

Athletics NSW - 9746 1122

At the BBQ Stakes this week Roger ran ~25:49, a 61 second improvement on last week; Helen ~26:50, a 22 second improvement; I ran ~27:07, 113 seconds faster than last week. And at last I am allowed to do some gentle strengthening exercises for the hamstring.

Tuesday, 14 August 2007

Goose Fact #7:When a goose gets sick or injured and drops out of their "V" flight formation, another two geese fall out and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with the fallen goose until it is either able to fly or until it is dead. Only then do they launch out on their own, or with another formation, to catch up with their group.

The strength of a training group is measured by how much its members look out for one another; care for one another and support one another!

Last Night at Parliament House saw the speedy geese Adam, Alan, Amanda, Caroline, Christopher, Emma, Ewen, Gary, Joel, me, Helen, Katie, Ken, Ruth, Sonia and Yelena run some interval training; three lots of 30, 40, 50 and 60 second runs, each with a good recovery. A great session. But when will the weather begin to warm up???

News from NarniaWalt Disney Productions has announced that it will produce the entire "Chronicles of Narnia" collection onto film. Following the success of the debut film "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", the company will attempt to release one movie a year, starting in May 2008 with the next installment, "Prince Caspian".

There are new hero creatures, specifically Badger and the mouse Reepicheep; there are huge battle sequences.

With twenty weeks left this year, were I to average exactly 65k per week I would equal last year’s total. But naturally I would like to better it.this week’s target: 80kweight: 66.5kg ▼song of the week: "How To Be Dead" - Snow Patrol - from "Final Straw".

I have road tested "How To Be Dead" and its 180+ beats per minute certainly gets you motoring!

Interestingly and not unexpectedly, the album "Hooked on Rock and Roll" is a constant succession of 163 bpm tracks!

Additional: I am adding each of my "songs of the week" to a playlist, now located on the right hand column of this blog.

Q: Did you know that there are world records for the marathon which are held by a member of the Speedygeese training group, i.e. us?A: seethis website, and check out the women's age records for 5, 6 and 7 year old. Yes, she still holds those records from a long time ago, and they are still faster than the boys' records for that age.

Sunday, 12 August 2007

Goose Fact #5: When the lead goose tires, it drops back into the "V" and another goose takes over in front.

To those who always “sit”: be prepared to take your turn in the lead.

To those who always want to lead, be ready and willing to defer to others, allowing them to take their turn leading, with you being content to follow.

The best way to learn about leadership is to follow closely a good leader! Once adept at leadership, the leader still needs to drop back frequently and rest, while allowing others to exercise and develop their leadership abilities.

This applies both to running a half marathon; and to life!

Speedy Helen out in front

Saturday, 11 August 2007

Goose Fact #4: Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone, and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front.

If we have as much sense as a goose, we will stay in formation with those who are headed the same way we are going.

A Game:The Bonte Room. Only slightly tricky. If I remember rightly, a hint you may need is, at the end of the "doghop" puzzle, what should you "square"? Careful observation solves these games!

David flying home in the half marathon

Friday, 10 August 2007

Goose Fact #3: Geese fly in a “V” formation. As each goose flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird immediately following. When a flock of geese fly in a “V” formation, the geese can travel nearly twice as far than if each bird flew on its own.

There is no reason to train by yourself; call other runners today and plan to meet them tomorrow! Running seems easier and finished sooner when in company.

Thursday, 9 August 2007

Still G rated?Q: Why does it take 300 million (male) sperm to fertilise one egg?A: Not one of them will stop and ask directions.

Goose Fact #2: "Hearing the call of the wild geese, some of the tame geese on the ground start to run along, beating their wings, crying out in awkward, confused disorder – but they are just mimicking the flying birds, they never lift off."

Your friends will need heaps of encouragement when they start a fitness program. Be patient; and be persistent, domesticated geese don't turn wild overnight!

The BBQ Stakes 6k is a really good measure of how my hammy recovery is progressing or not. Just the fact that I can finish the run, albeit somewhat slowly, means there is light at the end of the tunnel. Seems a darned long tunnel , but.

This week Roger ran ~26:48, Helen ~27:12, and I ran ~29:00. Compared with last week, I was genuinely surprised, I thought things had worsened. I was only a tad* slower. So, chin up and run on!

Helen was significantly faster than last week. Roger always amazes; he shouldn't have recovered from the Bush Capital marathon, yet has not slowed down at all.

Running Secret #3:Run twice a day instead of once a day.If you have been running daily and seem to have reached a plateau, your next breakthrough will happen when you run 6 or 7km in the morning, slowly, following up later in the day with your normal longer and speedier running.

The principle is, step up to the next level, whatever that might be. For example if you are used to going out three days a week, consider adding a fourth.

Wednesday, 8 August 2007

Three Speedy Geese in Capri. From CJ’s blog. Lots more travel photos there.

Goose Fact #1: “Every time wild geese go on their amazing migratory journey, they fly along, not too far above ground, and call out to any geese on the ground to join them in their flight.”

It’s a rescue mission. It’s not (just) for us, it’s (also) for them. That’s why I want to see the group increase, in numbers! No power play here. No megalomania. Merely a desire to see everyone involved in life enhancing activity!

There's another report today that Australian are getting fatter and lazier. Well it’s obvious, you just have to stand outside Kingsleys at Kippax for example and watch the very wide customers negotiate the very wide doors and sit on the well-spaced apart seats and eat their fatty fast foods. The only non-fat people I have seen so far in there are the girlies behind the counter.

From JILL STARK (The Age):"THE fat epidemic is not slowing. More than half of adult Australians are considered overweight or obese. Figures from the Australian Social Trends report show that 36 per cent of adults in 2005 were overweight — a jump of 3 per cent since 1995 — while obesity rates rose from 13 per cent to 18 per cent over the same period. Almost two-thirds (62 per cent) of men were fat, their average weight up from 80 kilograms to 84 kilograms. Average weight for women rose from 65 kilograms to 68 kilograms, with 45 per cent considered overweight or obese.

"But despite 7.5 million people carrying excess weight, most are in denial. Almost half (47 per cent) of men and a fifth (21 per cent) of women who were overweight or obese thought they were a healthy weight. Obesity rates are up across all age groups, with the greatest rise among men aged 35 to 44. Even migrants who arrive in Australia with a healthy weight are soon caught up in the obesity epidemic. Fifteen per cent of people who were born overseas and arrived in Australia before 1996, and 11 per cent of those who arrived between 1996 and 2005, are obese."

We are an inclusive group. It is really important we welcome others into our training group, others who may not feel they do not fit the "mould". Wild geese call to domesticated geese to join them. Let's do the same.

Tuesday, 7 August 2007

A man walks into a bar and asks for a packet of helicopter flavour crisps. Barman shrugs and says - "sorry we've only got plane".

Song of the week: United States, by The Smashing Pumpkins, from Zeitgeist. A live version is on my playlist (bottom of page).

Monday night training saw Adam, Alan, Amanda, Annette, Carolyne, Charmaine, Emma, Ewen, Gary, Geoff B, Helen, Katie, Ken, Margaret, Ruth, and Sonia enjoy 12 x 260m in teams of two. A very solid session but fun as we started teams at two different points and zigzagged past each other on each lap. Team Ken&Emma just pipped team Helen&Katie, with team Sonia&Amanda not far away. Fierce was the competition. And with me plus 4 walkers out there, we had the best turn-out for a while, 21.

Ruth and Gary were back from their respective overseas trips. I would like to say "none the worse for wear" but that might be stretching the truth.

In German a pun which doesn't quite translate into English. So let's say it means "Go Go Speedy Geese". Gary sent this card to our training group when he was overseas. We will talk again soon about how lessons from geese can inspire us.

After "coming good" for eight days, I found myself struggling again from Thursday; I couldn't run Saturday's race, and couldn't run at all on Sunday. Still the hammie. Start again this week! I can only improve.

To move faster, it will often help if you try something new.

Sunday, 5 August 2007

Not subtle, but still very funny! Small print: Should you find this objectionable, please remember (a) There has been virtually no political content in my previous 1,000+ posts, and (b) I will make a "comment" and attach it to this post, of the exact text of every email I get complaining about it, however silly the point of view contained therein! This has not been a party political broadcast on behalf of the Liberal Party.

With sincere apologies to Paul McCartney.

Continuing the "yesterday" theme, Cross Country results, Forest Drive 6.5k.No forest though. And a bitter wind. An excellent new venue, at the new Mt Stromlo facility. The run didn't use the specially prepared grass cross country course as it is not yet open, but ran on the "forest" tracks.Women12. Thea Zimpel 31:20 Men46. Ewen Thompson M50 35:3049. Geoff Barker M60 36:28

Saturday, 4 August 2007

I hope you like the idea of a playlist on this blog. I will probably modify the list every couple of weeks. Its sources are the entire web, so there is rather a large number of available tracks which could be included.

I might just add this one soon, if I can find it:

If I could just see youEverything would be all rightIf I'd see youThis darkness would turn to light

And I will walk on waterAnd you will catch me if I fallAnd I know everything will be alrightI know everything will be alright

-from Storm, Lifehouse, "Who We Are"

Friday, 3 August 2007

Thursday trainingLast night Caroline, Jeni, Margaret, Maria, Matthew, Peter, Rachelle, Rod and Tony ran 30 minutes of 400m intervals. Colin was there early and ran 200s, and Barbara and I also ran early, 8k instead of track. Next week I will attempt to attract a larger group so we can run relays.

Deer jokeWhat do you call a deer with no eyes?No Eye-Deer.

What do you call a deer with no eyes and no legs?Still no Eye-Deer.

I still prefer cow jokes.Two cows were standing in a paddock.One said "mooooooooo".The other turned and said "Not fair! I was going to say that!"

A GameHaluz Lots of fun, another game like Samarost. And easy. It is a bit slow when it has to load a brand new scene, you have to wait. Only the first time for each scene, though.

Thursday, 2 August 2007

You might want to gradually increase the tempo of your running towards three steps per second, or towards your personal optimum, over time. This post should help you in a couple of ways.

Firstly, do you want to check the pace of your music and decide which songs to load to your iPod/MP3 player? Here is a much easier way than using a metronome!

The MixMeister BPM analyser is available from http://www.mixmeister.com/, and it’s free to download, doesn’t take long either. It analyses songs and tells you how many BPM each song is.

A sample:

In this example, Snow Patrol’s “Final Straw” album, the track “How To Be Dead” (actually track 1), at two steps per beat, is almost exactly pace I recommended here! And the guitar plays at double time anyway, 182. “How To Be Dead” is actually track 1. (The order above is different because I rename the tracks to play them in my preferred order). I am out of breath just listening to it!

If your current rate is somewhat less, say 140, you might want to start off by choosing songs only a little faster, say 150 or so.

Jeff Galloway on Stride LengthSecondly, thanks to Cool Runner "2feetoffground", in this thread, I have read an article by Jeff Galloway on Stride Length which may be of interest. He says as you get tired, you tend to lengthen your stride in order to not slow down. He says this tendency should be resisted.

"Shorten your stride"When you feel tension in muscles that are at their limits - especially the calf and hamstring groups - you need to shorten the stride a bit to relax them. Keep on shortening your stride until the leg muscles do relax. This may allow you to pick up the turnover of the feet and legs. But even if this increase doesn't happen, you'll reduce the chance of injury caused by the increased fatigue of over-striding and speed up recovery. Often, the only adjustment needed is a shortening of an inch or two, but the relaxation it provides will allow the legs to go at a faster rhythm. Some runners can actually speed up at the end of the race.

"As you pick up the turnover on form accelerations, be sure to keep the stride short enough so the leg muscles are relaxed and maintain a quick rhythm. When in doubt, keep the stride short so you can maintain a light, quick step on each of these pick-ups."

Galloway proposes a drill to enable you to increase cadence:

"Turnover Drill"As runners become faster, their stride length decreases. Therefore, the way to get faster is to increase the turnover of feet and legs. Even those who lack a fast bone in their bodies will benefit from turnover drills because they teach the body to find a more efficient motion.

"The Drill"After a slow 1-mile warm-up, select a level and traffic-free stretch of road, trail or track. Without picking up your speed, count the number of times either your left foot or your right comes down in 30 seconds. Jog or walk for a minute or so and then run back, counting again for 30 seconds, with the goal of increasing the count by one or two. Repeat this four to six times, with the same projected increase each time but without a significant increase in effort.

"If you do this drill once a week, you'll intuitively learn to stay low to the ground with an increasingly lighter touch of the foot. If you do this drill at least once a week, a year from now you'll be running faster and with no increase in effort. The increased turnover and improved efficiency also makes running feel easier. You'll see more progress if you do it twice a week. But you'll lose two weeks of progress if you miss a week."

Wednesday, 1 August 2007

Song of the Week: "[Fin]", by Anberlin. The last track on their "Cities" album and my favourite song today, just ahead of "Starz" by the Smashing Pumpkins, in favouritism. Thanks to Karmin for putting me onto such a great group.

Friar has managed to put the 8k and 12k Cross Country results together from two weeks ago, they now appear on the Cross Country Club website.

Colin Farlow is our guest writer (much to his surprise I imagine): "Hi Maria and Peter, I just thought I'd put the pressure of the pair of you (as any worthy monarch should be able to perform under pressure). With only one event left in the King and Queen of the Mountain series, and after removing each participant's current lowest score, Peter is just three points behind Steve Bradford, while Maria is only a mere 10 points behind Jennie Blake. After a few patchy runs earlier in the warmer months, Peter has come good at the right time of the year and is well positioned to overtake the more fancied Bradford. With both Peter and Steve to retain their group relativities, Peter needs to look over his shoulder in the last km of the next race to ensure he puts two others between himself and Steve at the finish line. Maria, arguably the better runner, has carried her marathon form across to the Thomas series and should perform well enough next month to eclipse the 10 point gap if she refrains from a 25km run the previous day. And such result is even more likely if the handicapper quite rightly burdens Jennie with an additional delay, but leaves Maria alone, as both are on the cusp of re-grouping. I'm looking forward to the witnessing the coronation ceremony when I plod across the line many seconds behind the pair of you!"

Peter replies: "That's very observant of you Colin. A well timed tackle on Steve could earn you a knighthood."

Today's BBQ Stakes.Charlie ran about 27:20 (and was third on handicap), Helen about 27:40, and I ran about 28:50. For me that's about 6 minutes faster than last week, so I will just keep building up & it shouldn't be too long before I start showing some semblance of form.

Honk Honk

That's Ken about to pass Griffin. Or is it Griffin having just passed Ken? Take your pick.